If I could just touch His hem.

Have you ever seen someone at church during a song raise their hands in worship? I'm sure that is common to some that read this and not so common to others depending on the type of worship service you are accustomed to. Well for me it doesn't happen a lot though I suspect many in the crowd want to raise their hands in worship but peer pressure causes them to resist the promptings. Have you ever wondered why people raise their hands? I used to wonder what the person was thinking or feeling that caused them to raise their hands in worship. I am not sure what others think but for me I know why I have a desire to raise my hands in worship and its not so much raising my hand as it is reaching up for Jesus.

Sometimes I find myself in a place where I feel like I am dirty from sin, depressed from failing yet again in my Christian walk. When I have a repentant heart, I feel that if I could just reach up and touch His hem that I will be clean from this filthy state I'm in. It's not that Christ hasn't forgiven me or anything, in fact, its my short coming in feeling dirty for sinning even though He has already paid the penalty for me. Just like in Luke when we see two pictures of Jarius and woman that had been sick.

Luke 8:40-55 (English Standard Version)

40Now when Jesus returned, the crowd(A) welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41(B) And there came a man named Jairus, who was(C) a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42for he had(D) an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.
As Jesus went, the people(E) pressed around him. 43And there was a woman(F) who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her(G) living on physicians,[a] she could not be healed by anyone. 44She came up behind him and touched(H) the fringe of his garment, and(I) immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter[b] said, "Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!" 46But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that(J) power has gone out from me." 47And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48And he said to her, "Daughter,(K) your faith has made you well; go in peace."
49While he was still speaking, someone from(L) the ruler’s house came and said, "Your daughter is dead;(M) do not trouble(N) the Teacher any more." 50But Jesus on hearing this answered him, "Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well." 51And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except(O) Peter and(P) John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52And all were weeping and(Q) mourning for her, but he(R) said, "Do not weep, for(S) she is not dead but(T) sleeping." 53And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But(U) taking her by the hand he called, saying, "Child,(V) arise." 55And(W) her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat.

I know exactly how the woman feels. There are many times that I feel like if I could just touch His hem, then I will be cleaner than before. I want so bad just to be with Christ and like Christ and without sin. He is the only way that we can be clean. I reach up because I want to worship and sin no more.

Jarius is a picture of what many of us today feel. Jarius saw what He and others thought to be the impossible and even laughed at Jesus. Even though in verse 53 it says They laughed at him, showing a lack of faith, Jesus showed his power over death by calling her spirit back to her. My point in mentioning this part of the passage is simple. There is nothing so bad, so wretched, so impossible that Jesus cannot fix it. If all hope appears lost we can cling to Jesus, we can reach for His hem. By the power of Jesus we are made clean, and we are made alive were we once were dead. Praise His Holy name.

When you feel down, or depressed, or frustrated just remember Jesus is there. All we have to do is reach to Him. Repent from you sin, and turn away from the old ways of our sinful lives. Turn to Jesus and follow Him. There is no greater joy than when we are following Jesus. So next time you are in church don't be like those that laughed at Jesus, or like the crowd looking for who touched Jesus. Have faith like the unclean woman made whole and the young girl that was dead and was made alive.

I know I have posted this before, but this time I want everyone to watch this video and see if you feel the desire to reach up for Jesus. Pray that He will make you clean, and renew your walk with Him. If you do not know Christ then I pray you will take this opportunity say a little prayer. Let Jesus know that you are a sinner and that you need Him. Tell Jesus that you believe that He died for your sins on the cross and rose again on the third day. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and make you clean. Ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life and that you want Him to guide you in all you do. Amen. If you said this prayer please let me know by sending me a message so that I may pray for you, and assist you in finding a church home.

Have you ever wondered?

I've been pondering lately why the world seems so backwards to me, and I discovered that its all about the point of view that you have. The Christian has a radically different view of the origins and end of the earth that a Non-Christian would. Let me do a little bit of comparing.

Non-Christian: There is no God. Believes in evolution. Believes that the world came into existence through a Big Bang, random chance, or even aliens planting mankind here. Believes that there is no end of the world unless caused by mankind. Mankind hurts the world by overpopulation, misuse of natural resources, misuse of the environment. Believes in population control through abortion, and some even believe in killing off the non-productive citizens of the world. Believes that a tree or animal is more valuable than human life because the planet is over populated, and we are killing our planet that we need to last forever because there is no God to come back to save us.

Christian: There is a God. Jesus Christ is God and He is Creator of all things, and nothing exists that was not created by Him. The world is about 6000 years old. Mankind is to be a good steward of the planet that God made for us. There will be an end of this world when Jesus comes back with judgment. Jesus will make a new Heaven and a new Earth. Life is precious. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life. The world is fallen and this fallen state is a disease that affects all things.

So when I see people that cry over a whale that beached itself, but get violent to protect their right to kill their baby, I can understand their delusion when I realize how they see things. The fool says in his heart, There is no God. how true that is. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. He is the only way to spend eternity in heaven. He is the Truth and all things that do not line up with Him is lie. Jesus is the perfect example of life an the answer to all things. The Life, with out Christ we are without hope and are doomed to eternal separation from God and eternal judgment. Please don't buy into the lie of the world. Cling to Jesus, and live.

Death has lost it's victory

Dedicated to Mike:

1 Corinthians 15:42-57

42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[a] But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[b] the heavenly man.

50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[c] this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.[d]
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?[e]”

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.




This passage and song is dedicated to my brother-in-law and dear friend Mike, who passed away today. Even though he is gone from us now, and will soon be placed in the ground I know, with 100% confidence that I will see Mike again in heaven someday. His body will no longer be battered and beaten from the cancer and diabetes. He will have a new body with no pain and no tears, Praise God! Death has no victory with you my friend because Jesus Christ was your savior. It is well with my soul, See you soon.

Grace

In my journey through the bible again I have been pondering some of the passages I have been studying in the books of the law. Many of the old testament laws had a penalty of death or being put out from the people or excommunicated in a manner of speaking. For instance, in at least two passages, I have read about Hebrews that worked on the Sabbath and were put to death in accordance to God's law. Adulterers were put to death in accordance to God's law. People who deviated from God's plan for worship, and tried to worship in a slightly different way were put to death. Hebrews who questioned God's selection of Aaron and the Levites as priests were swallowed up by the earth. All of this seemed harsh to me until I realized that the relationship of old testament believers with God was different than it is now with us. The short answer is we are under grace now but what exactly does that mean?

To answer this question we have to understand a couple of things. First God the Father cannot be in the presence of sin. This is why we see the Holy of Holies shielded by an extremely thick veil. It is why the high priest had to be cleansed and holy before he entered the presence of God behind the veil. This is why the sin of all people had to have a blood sacrifice as a payment of sin. The penalty of sin is death and must be paid. The Hebrews had to bring sacrifices to the high priest to pay for their sins, and the High priest presented this to God in the Holy of Holies. This is the reason that the penalty of death was on so much of the law given to Moses.

Today, the Christian does not have to offer a sacrifice to God for our sin...why? Because Jesus Christ was our perfect sacrifice that paid for all of our sin, past, present and future. This is possible because a calf, lamb, bird, goat or whatever the sacrifice is was not perfect. Jesus Christ was perfect in every way and is the only sacrifice that is able to pay for all sin. Therefore, when we sin as Christians today, that sin has already had a sacrifice given for it. We need to confess that sin to Jesus Christ so we can remain in a right relationship with Him. We do not however, need to worry about the penalty of death, meaning death and eternal separation from God in hell, if we have accepted the gift of salvation, which Jesus offers us freely.

Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lived among us and endured every temptation, never sinned, died for all humanity on the cross, rose again on the third day, and lives today in Heaven. Jesus is God and Man. Jesus is creator of all things. Jesus knows everything about you, both hidden and revealed. Jesus loves you and wants all to come to Him, and believe in Him that they may have everlasting life. Jesus is the only way to heaven, and our only way to have a relationship with God the father. We pray in the name of Jesus and enter the throne room of God to present our prayers. Only the High priest after he was made holy could do this before Christ, but now Christ makes this possible.

We still have the law as a guide even though we cannot while here on earth ever hope to obey every letter of the law. Trust in Jesus today. He is the only way that we can be saved. Time is short, and the world is changing. Don't let the end come and you still without Christ. Remember the wages of sin is death, but through Christ we can have eternal life.